Openings & Closings: Worhals Closes in a Flash, BurgerFi Ventures to Sugar Land & Vallone's Welcomes Its First Diners

Being the week of Thanksgiving, it's no surprise that it's been a slow one for restaurant openings and closings.

Thanksgiving Day was a sad one for anyone hoping to bring a pie from House of Pies on Kirby to the dinner table. After its roof caught fire a few weeks ago, the Kirby location was forced to close. Even though management tried to reopen before Thanksgiving, Syd Kearney of the Houston Chronicle reports the location was forced to remain closed during the holiday. Hopefully the much-loved 24-hour pie emporium will reopen before Christmas.

In surprising news, Worhals Midtown has officially shuttered, after opening only in September of this year. Our sister blog, Rocks Off, tweeted that the bar has officially closed. The Facebook page no longer exists and no one at the bar will answer the phone. Our only question is, what is going to happen to all the beer?

That's it for closings this week. Let's take a look at restaurants that opened or announced official opening dates.

On Friday, November 22, The Gaslamp opened in Midtown. Eater reports that the new bar resides next-door to The Dogwood. In December, the bar should be open throughout the week, but for now it is open Thursday through Sunday. The Gaslamp has an outdoor patio and a menu filled with Mediterranean dishes.

The Pluckers Nachos proved to be excellent gameday food during the grand opening.

Carla Soriano checked out Houston's first Pluckers Wing Bar, which opened on Monday, November 25. She didn't set the bar high for the restaurant, since it was the first day it officially opened to the public. But, after tasting the nachos covered with chicken, queso, honey barbecue sauce, red onions and cilantro, sipping the sweet iced tea in a mason jar, and munching on the fried pickles (which she said are the best she had ever had), Soriano concluded that Pluckers Wing Bar was off to a great start.

Vallone's has an upstairs dining room overlooking Gessner.

Photo by Kaitlin Steinberg

Kaitlin Steinberg got a sneak peek at Vallone's (opening on Sunday, December 1) during a fundraiser/preview event earlier this week. She and her dining companion note that the new Tony Vallone restaurant will be a place where anniversary celebrations, birthdays, proposals and intimate gatherings will constantly occur. Before the grand opening on Sunday, Vallone's will have a soft opening on Friday and Saturday.

Many Houstonians have been waiting for 60 Degrees Mastercrafted to open, and it finally has, though it's as a soft opening only. Eater reports that the restaurant will be in a soft-opening phase until the middle of December, when it will officially open. (The grand-opening celebration will take place in January. Certified master chef Fritz Gitschner (former chef at the Houston Country Club) will head up the kitchen, serving lunch and dinner throughout the week, as well as dinner on Saturdays and brunch on Sundays.

If you have recently been to any of the five Black Walnut Cafes in Houston and the surrounding areas, you might have seen a sign stating the restaurant is expanding. Black Walnut Cafe plans to open restaurants in Vintage Park, Allen, and at the Lone Star Executive Airport in Conroe. No dates for the future expansions have been confirmed.

Did we miss any openings or closings? Let us know in the comments section and we will be sure to include them in next week's report.